Hey everyone! I’m back again with yet another article. This time, it’s about something we all know and dread: interviews.

I’ve had my fair share of interviews: I’ve applied for scholarships and had to face a panel of ministry officials; I’ve applied for many internships (and had many interviews) over the summers in NUS; and I’ve definitely applied and interviewed for entry into academic institutions, the most recent being my interview for the psychology concurrent degree programme.

Many people are nervous about interviews, and I definitely understand why. I mean, the prospect of being heavily questioned on the information you provide is daunting in itself. What if I don’t know how to answer their questions? What if I look dumb in front of these people? What does one even wear to an interview? These are common concerns that many individuals (myself included) face. Fortunately, over the years, I’ve learned a lot about interviews through my successes and failures. And so, I hope to share some of my thoughts on what you can do to increase your chances of success.

Of course, note (as always) that this is based on my experience and is my advice. I do not think there is any method that works 100% of the time. Additionally, even if you aced the interview, there is a chance that you get rejected on another basis. With that in mind, let’s get right into it!

1) Be Presentable

Now, I know this one seems obvious. But in my experience, there are many people who walk into an interview in inappropriate attire — anything ranging from slippers, shorts, informal t-shirts are a definite no. I’m not saying you have to look like a model, spray fancy perfume, put on high heels and wear makeup (or wear a suit and tie for males). That is very not the point. But just like how going overboard isn’t necessary, under-dressing is also not a good sign.

Many people will say that looks don’t matter, and that is true to an extent. But first impressions are undeniably important, and looking presentable helps make a good first impression. I mean, pretend that you are working in human resources and are looking to hire potential candidates. Now, imagine someone shows up with messy hair, dirty and tattered clothes and a lingering stench. That person is not going to make the list for the top 10 ideal employees. So, dress smart: long pants that aren’t jeans, a simple button-up shirt and appropriate black shoes is my go-to, and it’s a simple but decent fit. As long as you look formal (as if you were in an office), you should be fine.

2) Know What you Signed Up For and Research

Before we begin, I will say that this point applies the most for job interviews. For education-related interviews or scholarships, you can do research on the university or the ministry etc. but the descriptions can be purposely broad which makes it difficult for you to know what to research on specifically.

Having said that, while this point seems obvious, it’s easy to forget about. I myself have made that mistake before, where I go in for an interview either confident or exhausted and realise that I don’t know enough.

Usually, when you go in for an interview, it is good to do some brief research on the company and you should definitely read the job description. This seems rather basic, but trust me when I say it’s easy to forget. I remember I was applying to my MSF research position and did not do appropriate background research, and when my supervisor asked me whether I had searched up the project I would be working on, my answer was ‘no’ (for more on how awkward and embarrassing that was, check out my article about normalising mistakes). Yeah, that’s definitely not a good sign.

For universities, just do some basic background checks and research on the university and the major. In the event that they ask something like ‘why do you want to study here’ (this is a fairly common question), you can always mention something about the ranking or your general interest in the topic etc.

One additional note I will add is that it is sometimes hard to know what you are supposed to know. I think this is particularly true for scholarship interviews — based on my experience (i.e. my many failed applications), ministry scholarships in Singapore want you to know about politics, especially local policies. I’ve applied for the PSC scholarship and the MSF scholarship, and I had once attempted the Defence Merit Scholarship. During all of these interviews, I was asked about both global politics and Singapore policies. In summary: know your politics. Even if you are not a political science major (like me), and even if you apply with the intention of being a psychology-related employee (like me), they will still question you on policies, so do brush up on that.

Actually, the first time this happened I was rather embarrassed. The first Singapore scholarship I applied to was the Defence Merit Scholarship, and my entire interview was them asking me about the Hong Kong and China situation. Unfortunately, at the time, I had no interest in politics and had no appropriate response to the questions posed. It remains the most awkward interview of my life. Since then, I’ve picked up the habit of reading history books and taking history or geopolitical modules in university in order to avoid that embarrassment. But for anyone who is interested in applying for a Singapore scholarship, hopefully this tip helps.

 3) Highlight Relevant Experiences

This point applies mainly to job interviews, but it can apply to scholarship interviews too. I think it’s rather self-explanatory — if you apply to, for example, a research position, you should highlight and talk about prior research-related experience. If you don’t have a lot of relevant experience in the area, what you can do is to talk about other experiences that might be similar. For example, many students who want to enter a clinical psychology job likely do not have sufficient relevant experience, and so one might bring up their time volunteering at IMH, for example. It is not exactly the same as providing counselling or therapy to someone struggling with depressive disorder, but practically speaking it is likely the closest thing you have.

This also relates to those who are going for scholarship interviews — you might not have a wealth of internship experience, but you can talk about your leadership positions in JC, or your experiences as an MUN member and how that helped develop your awareness and interest in global affairs. Even if it is not extremely close, it’s best to find something that is slightly related than to have nothing to say at all.

On another note, I think a lot of preparation for interviews happens before the interview itself. By this, I mean: if you know you want to apply for scholarships in the future, or you know you want to work in a field related to your major, then you should do your best to gain relevant experiences from the beginning. Of course, what I mentioned above is still relevant, especially for recent JC students who are looking for jobs while waiting for university. But if you are aware of certain goals (e.g. for me, I definitely want to work in a psychology-related field), then you should do your best to find and select relevant experiences even before any interview.

For secondary/JC students, this can look like taking leadership CCAs or choosing debate or MUN (those often score extra points in general). For us university students, it looks like finding internships every summer. For me in particular, it involves me voluntarily doing research-related modules, and undertaking extra research projects (mine is IRP; for more information on that, see my article on psychology research opportunities). I know it can often be hard to predict the future, and students are often already so busy that they barely have time for anything. I know and understand. But I do think that it pays sometimes to be wise and selective, to take good opportunities when they are available, and to help boost your overall resume, even as a young student.

4) Sound Confident

This point is more about your general presentation during the interview itself. I know that many people are nervous in interviews, and perhaps the way they speak might not sound as confident as normal. But do your best to just sound firm, and always speak as if you know exactly what you are saying. Fake it until you make it is not exactly right, but at least sound confident when you are talking about things. If you don’t know something, don’t fake it — admit that you are unsure, and add something that makes it better. For example, ‘I don’t know this, but based on my experience my best guess is x’.

I think this point is the same as the point about having a decent presentation — there’s nothing wrong with sounding nervous, but if a candidate is stuttering and stammering a lot, it leaves a negative impression. So do your best to sound confident.

On another note, there are many people who feel awkward bragging about themselves, especially since you’re supposed to show off all the things you’ve done in an interview. I think it takes time and practice, but over the years I’ve come to understand that this is just a professional thing that is required, and that there is nothing wrong with sharing about some of the past experiences you have had. I did feel awkward and weird at the start, but I think this is just something that takes time to get used to. So just go for more interviews and practice — it will get better over time, I promise.

5) Be Yourself

This last point is just my general take on interviews. I’ve found over the years that interviewers prefer it if you’re more natural. It’s also just easier to be yourself (professionally, of course) than it is to try and fake some other personality, and interviewers tend to prefer that. After all, a part of the interview process is also to just find out more about you and your character. In the beginning of most (if not all) of my interviews, they tend to start by asking me about my life (i.e. what I’m studying, maybe something I found interesting in my university modules, my strengths and weaknesses etc.). These aren’t related to my academic transcript or any prior experiences, but more of self-reflection. It’s also more like a conversation than anything else, where you reply to the interviewer, and they ask follow-up questions just to know more about you.

Once again, I’m not asking you to call the interviewer ‘bro’ and speak to them as you would a friend. But rather, make it more natural rather than scripted. I personally don’t predict questions asked by the interviewer and just answer the questions naturally on-the-spot. I also don’t script or memorise any of my responses — partly because I’m lazy and partly because I don’t think that it helps. Overall, just be you.

And that’s all from me! See you guys next time!